Preview: UFC Fight Night 245 Prelims

Women's Strawweights
Melissa Martinez (7-1) vs. Alice Ardelean (9-6)
Odds: Martinez (-135), Ardelean (+114)

Melissa Martinez gets a second chance to make a first impression here. "Super Melly" came into the UFC in 2022 with a decent amount of hype, but a loss to Elise Reed immediately drove home a lot of the issues with Martinez's game; she's a 5-foot-2 striker who's most comfortable at range, and while she can wrestle well enough, opponents have historically been able to eat up time controlling her against the fence or on the mat. All of that added up to a performance where she never truly got things going against Reed, and a subsequent string of injuries has made her a forgotten woman over the last two years. She finally returns here against Alice Ardelean, who also looks to rebound from an unsuccessful UFC debut. Ardelean did well to get here, as she had a rough start to her professional career that included three losses to eventual UFC signees - one of which was Zhang Weili - but she eventually put together enough of a winning streak to get the UFC's notice, albeit one on the back of weak competition. She narrowly dropped her UFC debut to Shauna Bannon in July, finding success through her scrappiness and willingness to wrestle, and that could pay some dividends here; but the read is that Martinez can land enough effective striking volume to win rounds, even if Ardelean may succeed in making this a bit of a grind. The pick is Martinez via decision.

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Edwards vs. Vidal
Penne vs. Reed
Martinez vs. Ardelean
Lane vs. Despaigne